Search

I am a little disappointed with the coverage of Nikki Haley, the Palin and Romney backed potential Republican nominee for South Carolina governer, that goes, “despite her politics, isn’t it great to have a South Asian woman in a leadership position?” Sadly, no and here’s why. Nikki Haley, along with fellow desi politician Bobby Jindal have created for themselves an identity that feeds into dominant assumptions and desires about assimilation, acceptance and the rightful way for minorities to act. When Republicans say “diversity,” what they mean is “people of color that act like us even when we say racist shit to them.” Since after all, Haley was referred to as a “raghead.” Real classy.
In response to the attitude that Republicans are in some way better at embracing South Asians, Jamelle Bouie pointed out last week,

Bobby Jindal’s persona is probably authentic — I have no reason to think otherwise — but it’s clear that his Christianity, his unassuming name and his recognizable accent are all part of his appeal to white Southerners. It’s hard to imagine a Piyush Jindal rising as rapidly through the ranks of Southern conservative politics. The same goes for Nikki Haley, whose birth name is distinctively South Asian, and who repeatedly stressed her Christianity in order to dispel rumors about her religious beliefs. This doesn’t make her any less authentic, but it does suggest that it might be difficult to succeed in Southern conservative politics if you insist on retaining the cultural markers of your ethnic heritage.

Right, so if Nikki and Bobby went by their more “authentic” names, they would not have had so much success with voters. Trust me, my name is Samhita Mukhopadhyay and I spent most of my life going by “Sami.” The difference in how I was treated based on which name I used was profound and that is just me. This is an all too common experience, even resulting in the bestseller by Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake.

But this is not just about whether I think Nikki Haley and Bobby Jindal are sell-outs, not Indian enough or not authentic enough, because all these assumptions in and of themselves would be problematic and I am not in a position to make them. The bigger issue that seems to be obscured in the name of “Republican diversity” is the strategic role that South Asians have played (and often fed into) in the construction of the model minority. In short, South Asians benefit (mostly in superficial ways) with social and racial privilege by buying into the myth of the model minority while Republicans benefit from showing off how many brown people they can get to buy into their agenda and also have a measuring stick to put other ethnic minorities down, namely blacks and Latinos.
In his groundbreaking book, The Karma of Brownfolk, Vijay Prashad lays out the specific racial project of black racism and how South Asians have been strategically deployed in this project,

We are not simply a solution for black America but, most pointedly, a weapon deployed against it. The struggles of blacks are met with the derisive remark that Asians don’t complain; they work hard–as if to say that blacks don’t work hard. The implication is that blacks complain and ask for handouts……the myth of the model minority emerged in the wake of the Civil Rights movement to show up rebellious blacks for their attempts to redress power relations. The state provided the sop of welfare instead of genuine redistribution of power and resources, and even that was only given as reluctant charity.

“Model minority,” is a strategic move on behalf of conservatives to play Asians against blacks and unfortunately it has been really effective and has lead to not only inter-community conflict, but also the perpetuation of the idea that South Asians in leadership positions in the Republican party is somehow “progress.” But like there is no vagina litmus test, there is also no desi litmus test. If a candidate is obtusely opposed to the legislation, rights and freedoms I believe in, then no, I don’t think this is a step in the right direction. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and give more credit to folks than is due.

Deedra Abboud is a Muslim, feminist activist running for U.S. Senate in the state of Arizona. A former immigration lawyer and a self-proclaimed “civil rights and social justice advocate,” Abboud is the progressive candidate Arizona needs to defeat Arpaio and his brand of racist politics.

In addition to her legal career, Abboud’s community organizing efforts have focused on fostering interfaith dialogue and defending freedom of religion, combatting discrimination against Native Americans in schools, investigating discrimination complaints against law enforcement and the FBI, campaigning for marriage equality, and fighting for access to abortion and birth control and women’s health in general. Recognizing that many young people, women of color, and progressive activists are disenchanted with the political process and eager for a candidate that takes our struggles and ...

Deedra Abboud is a Muslim, feminist activist running for U.S. Senate in the state of Arizona. A former immigration lawyer and a self-proclaimed “civil rights and social justice advocate,” Abboud is the progressive candidate Arizona needs to ...

Yesterday, convicted criminal and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio announced that he is running for U.S. Senate in the state of Arizona. Just a few months ago, Arpaio was facing a jail sentence for violating a judge’s order to stop racially profiling Latinxs. Trump later pardoned Arpaio, and now the man who called himself the “the toughest [i.e. most racist, violent, evil] sheriff in America” is running for office to “support the agenda and policies of President Donald Trump in his mission to Make America Great Again.”

Recent elections have reminded us that U.S. citizens overwhelmingly elect monsters, which is why we need all hands on deck to defeat Arpaio and his anti-immigrant campaign.

Yesterday, convicted criminal and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio announced that he is running for U.S. Senate in the state of Arizona. Just a few months ago, Arpaio was facing a jail sentence for violating a judge’s ...

The Broad Room is an all-women political collective in New York City that’s taking down the right-wing agenda and educating the city’s young feminists one newsletter and activist training at a time.

Started in the wake of Trump’s election by three aides to Mayor Bill De Blasio, the group aims to train an army of badass women to resist the right through distribution of a weekly action letter that tackles topics from net neutrality to white supremacist violence, free monthly trainings taught by experts in their field on how to understand and change government, and a host of networking events ...

The Broad Room is an all-women political collective in New York City that’s taking down the right-wing agenda and educating the city’s young feminists one newsletter and activist training at a time.

Search

We need your help!

Get Our Newsletter

New posts and Feministing news delivered to your inbox weekly!

Want to write for us?

All Feministing posts are written by the site’s collective of regular columnists and editors. Though we don’t currently accept guest submissions, we have an open platform Community site to which anyone can contribute. We often promote our favorite Community posts on the main site. And Community bloggers who consistently impress us may to be invited to become regular Feministing columnists..